Today's News

Entrepreneurs don’t have to live in or near Las Cruces to take advantage of the many services offered by Arrowhead Center — a business development hub launched in 2004 by New Mexico State University to stimulate economic development for the betterment of all New Mexicans.
The center’s resources are open to any state resident who needs help turning an idea into a commercial venture or taking an existing business to the next stage.
The Enterprise Research service draws on students, business mentors, entrepreneurs, faculty researchers and research partners to create and validate research studies for startups and existing businesses.
And the Arrowhead Technology Incubator links technology-based firms with the resources they need.
Enterprise Research
Arrowhead Center accepts applications three times a year from businesses that need help analyzing the commercial potential of new technologies and products, formalizing business plans to attract investors and identifying resources for startups.
Student innovation teams help write business plans, test technologies, research market potential and explore licensing opportunities with potential investors.

The future of health care — or at least how we pay for it — is confusing, to say the least. One question is what happens to state authority under the Obamacare law.
New Mexico contains quite a few mandates — services insurance companies are required to cover.
For example, some years ago a prospective adoptive parent found that state regulations required health insurance for the adopted child, but insurance companies weren’t covering adopted children.
A legislator was asked for help, and a law was enacted to require that coverage. Hence, a mandate.
Current law mandates coverage for mammograms, colorectal screenings and a whole list of other treatments.
Some of them are quite narrowly written — a specific treatment for a specific cancer, for example.
Heartbreaking stories may lie behind some of these provisions — a badly needed treatment denied, a call to a legislator and a new mandate written into law.
Whether mandates add to the cost of insurance can be argued. One side says people should pay for their own routine preventive screenings.
The opposing argument says screenings catch serious health conditions early, saving money because early treatment is so much more cost-effective.

When Lauri Houlton received the call from the Española Valley Humane Society’s Linda Sanchez, she had no idea what she was in store for. After all, she began fostering dogs in April 2011, so it was no surprise that she was being called on to foster another pup.

Dracula, a black-and-tan puppy came to stay with Houlton and her boyfriend Ross Van Lyssel on Oct. 4, because he was too small to go to the mobile adoption scheduled for that weekend.

Van Lyssel has a Shepherd/Husky-mix named Beth and Houlton has two dogs she kept from her first fostering, brother and sister, Knut and Klondike.

Plus, fostering dogs is nothing new for the couple. They have fostered 129 dogs.

Dracula, however, was not their typical foster pup.

“The very first day Drac came home, we noticed he got sick every time he ate his Puppy Chow. He couldn’t keep anything down,” Houlton said.

“He was returned to the shelter on Friday the 5th so the vets could check him out. I called all weekend to check on him. Linda then had me meet with Dr. Parker, a vet at EVHS. He explained that he believed Dracula had an aortic arch. That is a blood vessel that has grown around and encircling the esophagus instead of next to it.”

Learn about how archaeologists study ancient sites in the wake of forest fires, from 7-8 p.m. Tuesday at Pajarito Environmental Education Center. Dr. Anastasia Steffen will give a hands-on introduction to archaeological obsidian analyses and an overview of current projects underway at the Valles Caldera National Preserve.
The large forest fires of the last few decades have burned much of the eastern Jemez Mountains, including about one-third of the Valles Caldera. Culminating with the recent Las Conchas Fire, this spate of wildfires burned hundreds of archaeological sites, including more than 80 percent of the prehistoric obsidian quarries.
In this talk, Steffen will consider the methods archaeologists can use to understand how past peoples made tools, when they were making them, how past forest fires may have affected the archaeological sites, how the soil deposits at these sites have changed over the centuries, and ways that the volcanic glass was transported and traded across the continent.
Steffen is cultural resources coordinator at the Valles Caldera National Preserve and adjunct faculty in the Anthropology Department at the University of New Mexico. She has worked in the Jemez Mountains since 1990 and has led archaeological inventory and research at the preserve since 2001.

The University of Minnesota Duluth has announced its dean’s list for fall semester 2012. Students on the dean’s list have achieved a grade point average of 3.5 or higher.
Los Alamos resident Stephanie Bronkhorst, is attending the College of Liberal Arts, seeking a bachelor’s degree in English. Bronkhorst was named to the dean’s list.

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Emily Katherine Funsten, daughter of Herbert and Ann Funsten of Los Alamos, was named to the dean’s list during the fall 2012 term at Middlebury College. The dean’s list is the second highest recognition for academic achievement at the liberal arts institution in Vermont. Funsten is majoring in neuroscience.
To be selected for the dean’s list, students must carry a full course load of four or more classes during the semester, achieve a grade point average of 3.3 or higher and earn no grade lower than a B-.

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Michelle Boerigter, daughter of Dr. Stephen and Kathleen Boerigter of Los Alamos, was named to the dean’s list for the second semester of the 2012-13 school year at Hope College. To be named to the dean’s list, a student must have a minimum 3.5 grade point average.

Daniel Ahrens displays the first-ever Hubba Bubba Junior Award. Ahrens responsibility and quick thinking has caused Los Alamos High School, in conjunction with Assets In Action, to recognize students nominated anonymously by LAHS staff for making the school a great place everyday.